Annual Export Target Exceeded with $212.2 Billion

Turkey Surpasses Annual Export Target with USD 212.2 Billion According to figures released by the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TİM) for September, Turkey crossed another historic threshold in exports. Turkish exporters, the field operatives of the economy and trade diplomacy, made history in September by exceeding USD 20 billion in a single month for the first time. September exports reached USD 20.783 billion, a 30% increase compared to the same month last year. This figure also represents the highest monthly export in Republican history. In the first nine months of the year, Turkish exporters achieved USD 161 billion in exports, a 36% increase, and exceeded the annual export target of USD 211 billion with USD 212.2 billion in exports over the past 12 months. In September compared to the same month last year, 23 sectors increased their exports, with Steel taking first place among sectors for the first time with USD 2.6 billion in exports. The export family, waving the Turkish flag in 218 countries and regions, achieved success in increasing exports to 170 countries; set monthly export records in 27 countries, including the United States, Spain, Belgium, Colombia and Chile. While 66 provinces increased their exports, 16 provinces reached their highest monthly export figures in history. Last month, 1,558 companies exported for the first time. Turkish Lira exports totaling TRY 6.1 billion were realized to 180 countries. TİM Chairman İsmail Gülle stated: "Thanks to our exporters, we have stood out as the only country that managed to maintain production without disruption and deliver orders during global crises. The world is aware of this. We see at our fairs that foreigners are waiting in line. Our current operation at full capacity and inability to meet incoming demand is just the beginning... We achieved USD 212.2 billion in exports over the past 12 months, exceeding our annual export target of USD 211 billion. Thus we have already reached the Medium-Term Program target. We set export records in 11 of the last 13 months. God willing, in 2026, we will reach USD 300 billion in exports in as short a period as five years," he said. Turkish exporters, which began this year with records while waving the Turkish flag around the world, continue to set new export records every month in response to the demand contraction in global trade caused by the pandemic. The Turkish Exporters Assembly (TİM), which brings together 61 exporter associations, 27 sectors and 100 thousand exporters under one roof, working toward the goal of "Turkey with a Foreign Trade Surplus," announced the foreign trade data for September at a meeting held in Ankara with the participation of Commerce Minister Mehmet Muş. Turkish exporters, insatiable in their record-breaking and having exceeded USD 200 billion in July based on the past 12 months of data, inscribing their names in history in golden letters, achieved another historic success in September, as they do every month. The export family exceeded the USD 20 billion threshold in a single month for the first time in September. According to the General Trade System (GTS), September exports reached USD 20.783 billion, a 30% increase compared to the same month of the previous year. Thus, the all-time monthly export record was broken. In the first nine months of the year, Turkish exporters achieved USD 161 billion in exports, a 36% increase, and exceeded the annual export target of USD 211 billion with USD 212.2 billion in exports over the past 12 months. Before touching on the September export figures, TİM Chairman İsmail Gülle evaluated the announcements President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made to the export family at TİM's 28th Ordinary General Assembly on 18 September, and continued his remarks as follows: "With our exports setting records one after another, we had conveyed to our Commerce Ministry the financing and fair space demands from our exporters. In this context, the 'Export Development Fund' among the announcements is of great importance for our increasingly rising exports. Because more exports bring along greater financial needs. This important fund, which will be created for access exclusively by our exporters, will add strength to our exporters. This important step will facilitate export processes; eliminate letters of credit, providing cost advantage and credit expansion. The increase in Eximbank's capital and resources will increase our exporters' credit volume, facilitate their access to credit, and place export support and financing on appropriate ground for their needs. There is another important announcement regarding the fair center. As an export family growing with our production, exports, and successes in domestic and foreign markets, we see at the point we have reached that our current fair capacity does not support our current economy. Over the last 20 years, we have together managed to grow our economy four-fold and increase our foreign trade volume five-fold. During this period, the capacity of fair areas in Istanbul increased by only 20 percent. We believe this step taken to crown the successes achieved by our growing and developing export family with a larger fair center showcase is a very important development. Our President also announced this request of ours at our General Assembly," he said. Emphasizing that the project to transform Istanbul, the meeting point of Asia, Europe and Africa, into a global trade fair center will be rapidly delivered to Turkey, Gülle said: "As TİM, we will provide the necessary contribution to the process. We will provide our exporters with modern, spacious and extensive fair centers. These three important announcements will, God willing, be important milestones on our export journey toward USD 300 billion. On this occasion, we extend our gratitude to our President, who regards exporters as companions on the path of destiny, our Commerce Minister who always supports us, and our Government. During September, we received quite encouraging news both in economic confidence index data and in the Global Innovation Index rankings, which are within our Assembly's mandate. Under the leadership of our President, with the support of our Ministry of Industry and Technology and the contributions of our institutions, Turkey jumped 10 steps this year, reaching a historic peak. We are proud of the contribution that Turkey's Roadmap and Action Plan, which we prepared as TİM, made to this success. In the index where we rose to 41st place this year, we were also the second country to make the largest jump. With this success, we rose to 4th place in the upper-middle income group. As TİM, we will continue to proudly bring exports and all stakeholders of our exports together with innovation, just as we did in the past, until our country reaches the place it deserves in the index," he said. İsmail Gülle recalled that the Manufacturing Industry Capacity Utilization Rate reached 78.1 points, the highest level in the last 39 months, and the Economic Confidence Index reached 102.4 points, the highest level in the last 41 months, and said: "This rise in indices points to increases in exports, employment and investments. We are producing, exporting, providing employment, building value upon value, and preparing the ground for new investments in these lands. TİM Chairman Gülle stated: "Thanks to our exporters, we have stood out as the only country that managed to maintain production without disruption and deliver orders during global crises. The world is aware of this. We see at our fairs that foreigners are waiting in line. Our current operation at full capacity and inability to meet incoming demand is just the beginning. After exceeding the critical USD 200 billion threshold, we have repeatedly stated in many forums that we will shift into higher gear in export growth. God willing, in 2026, we will reach USD 300 billion in exports in as short a period as five years. We express this figure on a rational basis based on economic data and global developments. As an export family, with the awareness that we will reach a bright future after these difficulties, we are preparing for tomorrow without interrupting production and exports, focusing on value-added products, brands, technology and innovation. Our hope for tomorrow is high. Because we know that Turkey will rise through exports," he said.

"Turkey Logistics Portal to Be Opened for Use on 11 October"

Providing information about the work on the Turkey Logistics Portal, which will serve as a bridge between exporters and the logistics sector, Gülle said: "As the Turkish Exporters Assembly, in addition to Europe, our main market, we are working with all our might to increase our effectiveness in other markets. Global freight prices are known to all our exporters. We have completed our work on the Turkey Logistics Portal, which will serve as a digital bridge between our exporters and the logistics sector to find solutions to logistics problems experienced on a global scale. God willing, on 11 October, we will open our portal for use by our exporters, thus launching a new period in our struggle against this global problem," he said.

"We Have Exceeded the Monthly USD 20 Billion Threshold"

Pointing out that September exports reached USD 20.783 billion, a 30% increase compared to the same month of the previous year, Gülle continued: "With this figure, we signed the highest monthly export figure in our history; we once again certified that we have moved up to a new league in exports by exceeding the USD 20 billion threshold. In the first nine months of the year, our exports reached USD 161 billion with a 36% increase. Over the past 12 months, we achieved USD 212.2 billion in exports, exceeding our annual export target of USD 211 billion. We set export records in 11 of the last 13 months. Thus, we have already reached the Medium-Term Program target. In September, our exports by volume increased 23.7% compared to the same month of the previous year, reaching 17.5 million tons. In the first nine months, we signed exports of 131.7 million tons with a 19.5% increase. However, we are seeing quite a positive momentum in our export unit prices. Our unit export value rose to USD 1.22 with a 14% increase during the January-September period.

Steel Sector Leads with USD 2.6 Billion

This month, the sectors that increased their unit export values the most were Shipbuilding and Yachts with a 102% increase, Steel with a 71% increase, and Chemical Substances with a 27% increase. As our value-added and branded exports increase, the value of our products will multiply further. A total of 23 sectors increased their exports. Additionally, a total of 8 sectors including Steel, Ready-Made Clothing, Textiles, Machinery, Cereals, Furniture, Mining and Fruit-Vegetable Products reached their highest monthly export figures in history. Our Steel sector, which achieved USD 2.6 billion in exports this month, ranked first, our Automotive sector approaching USD 2.5 billion ranked second, and our Chemical Substances sector reaching USD 2.3 billion ranked third. Our Steel sector increased its exports by USD 1.5 billion compared to September of the previous year, ranking at the top for the first time in its history. Other notable increases occurred in our Chemical Substances sector, which increased exports by USD 677 million, Ferrous and Non-Ferrous Metals sector with an increase of USD 401 million, and Textiles sector with an increase of USD 257 million compared to the previous year. We waved the Turkish flag in 218 countries and regions. We increased our exports to 170 countries. We set monthly export records in 27 countries, including the United States, Spain, Belgium, Colombia and Chile. This month, the top 3 countries where our exporters achieved the most exports were Germany with USD 1.7 billion (12% increase), the United States with USD 1.4 billion (48% increase), and the United Kingdom with USD 1.3 billion (11% increase). The countries to which we increased our exports the most by value were the United States with an increase of USD 450 million, Belgium with an increase of USD 278 million, and Spain with an increase of USD 257 million. Looking at exports by country groups, we see that our largest market, the European Union (EU-27), accounted for 41% of exports with a volume of USD 8.5 billion, a 26% increase. When we also add other European countries outside the EU, Europe's share in our September exports was 55%. This month in other country groups, we achieved exports of USD 3.4 billion to Near and Middle Eastern countries (21% increase), USD 1.9 billion to the entire African continent (42% increase), USD 1.6 billion to North American countries (55% increase), and USD 1.5 billion to the Far East (24% increase).

66 Provinces Increased Exports, 16 Provinces Achieve Highest Monthly Exports

In September, 66 of our provinces increased their exports. 16 of our provinces—Istanbul, Kocaeli, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kayseri, Adana, Samsun, Kahramanmaraş, Tekirdağ, Eskişehir, Zonguldak, Karabük, Balıkesir, Uşak, Aksaray and Edirne—achieved their highest monthly exports in history. I congratulate all our provinces for this successful performance. This month, the top 3 provinces achieving the most exports were respectively Istanbul with USD 8.5 billion (34% increase), Kocaeli with USD 1.7 billion (38% increase), and Bursa with USD 1.3 billion (1% increase). Besides our top 3 provinces, the provinces that achieved the most notable increases were Hatay, which increased exports by USD 343 million (212% increase), and Izmir, which increased exports by USD 239 million (28% increase).

1,558 Companies Say "Hello to Exports"

The strong interest in exports was reflected in our exporter company numbers in September. A total of 1,558 of our companies exported for the first time this month, joining our export family. Our new companies achieved USD 83.6 million in exports in September. Since the beginning of the year, the number of companies exporting, including those for the first time, totaled 84 thousand, with 13 thousand 600 being first-time exporters. In September, the decline in the Euro/Dollar parity had a negative effect of USD 55 million on exports. However, looking at the year in general, we see a positive effect of USD 3.9 billion.

Exports to 180 Countries in Turkish Lira

According to declarations opened in Turkish Lira, Turkish Lira exports totaling TRY 6.1 billion were realized to 180 countries. Turkish Lira exports increased 24% in September. 7,521 companies preferred Turkish Lira in their export transactions. TİM will continue to support the use of domestic currencies in bilateral trade.